Chapter 2

(Asgard - Day 1)

Hiccup woke up with Toothless sleeping on his head again, or more precisely with Toothless' tail wagging and whacking him on his ear while the small black dragon snored away without a care in the world.

"Ouch Toothless!" Hiccup shot up sending Toothless scrambling awake on his head. Due to the sudden jolt Toothless let out a high pitched yip and hit Hiccup in the face with his tail as he fell on the bed.

"Hiccup what in the nine realms?!" Toothless shouted as he righted himself on the bed and took in Hiccup's disheveled look. "Don't you know not to wake a sleeping dragon?"

"Not when that sleeping dragon's tail keeps whacking me." Hiccup retorted and then looked out the large windows of the room that he'd been given while stifling a yawn. "The sun isn't even up yet." He stood up and stretched watching as Toothless burrowed back into the plush pillows and blankets.

"You're not coming back to bed?" Toothless asked as one green eye cracked open.

"After the day we've had I probably should." Hiccup mumbled "but I don't feel sleepy anymore."

"Well if you go exploring then bring me back a chicken leg." Toothless sleepily told him before closing his eye again.

"Toothless you're going to get fat." Hiccup warned. "And you just ate a ton at dinner tonight."

"I'm a growing dragon." Hiccup heard Toothless say while the small dragon stifled a yawn. He rolled his eyes before grabbing his shirt and heading out of the room for an early morning walk. The large double doors of his room creaked open and Hiccup stepped into the gilded hall on the other side. The hall was empty save for the moonlight that was streaming through the large windows from the twin moons in the sky. Something about this setting reminded Hiccup oddly of the first time that he had met Astrid. He chuckled as he remembered fainting during that fateful encounter and idly wondered if he was going to encounter another mummy this night. Hiccup was so caught up in his musings that he didn't watch where he was going and as he rounded a corner ran right into someone.

"Ouch!" Hiccup fell backwards and he heard another thud close to him. He quickly looked up, an apology on his lips when he saw that he had ran into Jerry. "I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" Hiccup asked as he scrambled up and held out a hand to help Jerry up.

"I'm fine." Jerry told him as he stood and righted his robe. Hiccup was about to apologize once more when Jerry's name was called from further down the hall. "Sorry I have to go!" Jerry quickly told Hiccup before bounding away. Hiccup was wondering who Jerry was trying to avoid and his question was soon answered when Thor came jogging up to him. Scarlet hair fell out of his braid from probably chasing Jerry around. Thor didn't look like how any of the books on Earth described him. For one, he had muscles but he wasn't as bulky as some body builders. The second difference was that his hair wasn't long and golden. It was instead a deep scarlet that would put his own father's beard to shame.

"Ah, friend Hiccup. Have you by any chance seen Jerry?"

"He ran that away." Hiccup told him while pointing around the corner to the hallway he had come from. Thor took a look and quietly cursed as both saw one of the large windows pushed open.

"He actually climbed out a window?!" Hiccup mumbled amazed. They were after all nearly twenty storeys off the ground.

"He… tends to do that. Slippery fellow." Hiccup heard Thor mutter next to him. Hiccup got a closer look at the God of thunder and raised a brow. "You have something on your face." He told Thor as he saw what appeared to be a set of badly drawn flowers on his cheeks and forehead. Thor let out a huff but explained. "Jerry did it. He considers this payback."

"Uhm… if you don't mind me asking, what are you planning to do to Jerry when you catch him?" Hiccup asked. While the Royal family that the group had been introduced to during dinner with Odin was nice and informal in a private setting, Hiccup didn't know how they'd react when someone made them angry. Not all the mythology on Earth was fiction after all.

"Oh no. You needn't worry. I was actually chasing him to apologize. The fault in this matter lies entirely with me. I pushed too hard again." Thor elaborated. Hiccup nodded but didn't ask further on the matter since that would be prying on his part. Then suddenly Thor's eyes lit up as if he had just noticed something "Why are you up so early Hiccup? I thought for sure you and your friends would sleep till midday after the events and the journey you've had."

"I guess." Hiccup told him. It was still weird for him to be talking this casually with a supposed Norse deity. "I just couldn't fall back asleep after I got woken up."

"Nightmare?" Thor asked.

"No, dragon tail to face." Hiccup stated dryly. The statement however caused Thor to guffaw.

"I must say that is not what I expected." Thor said when his laughter quieted down. "Well since you are awake why do you not join my friends and I."

"You want me to join you and your friends?" Hiccup had to ask again to make sure he heard that right. "Uhm, what exactly are you going to do?"

"We were going to test our archery skills at the range." Thor stated. "My wife and daughter will be joining us as well. I don't believe you had the chance to meet them last night."

"I didn't know you were married." Hiccup said as his eyes widened.

"My daughter had a bit of a stomach ache from all the nerves and Sif, my wife, stayed in our rooms with her." Thor explained. "She's a curious little thing and she managed to work herself into a bundle of nerves at the prospect of meeting you all."

"Meeting us?" Hiccup raised a brow as Thor started leading the way.

"Why yes. She has been fascinated with Midgardian cultures for quite some time now. She was excited at the prospect of meeting actual Midgardians."

"Oh I see." Hiccup said as Thor went on to regale him with his daughter's adventures like any proud parent would.

While Hiccup was speaking to Thor there was another who couldn't fall asleep anymore. A few rooms down from Hiccup's was Heather's room. In it she lay wide awake. Finally she couldn't take it anymore and with a huff sat up on the bed before vacating it. She put on her clothes and exited the rooms. 'Maybe a bit of exploring will take my mind off of things.' She mused as she walked through the empty hall. A few minutes earlier and she would have seen Hiccup and Thor conversing. What she did notice however, was a slim figure in a blue and black robe sneaking into the hallway from a window. "Jerry?" She asked as she got closer. The hand that was close to one of her hidden knives dropped back down upon noticing who it was.

"Heather! Oh… uhm, this isn't what it seems." Jerry gave a nervous chuckle.

"Do all Asgardians make it a habit of going through windows?" Heather gave a small smile while quirking a brow.

"When the need arises." Jerry shot back.

"So why aren't you using the door?" Heather asked as she gave Jerry a curious stare.

"I'm trying to avoid sparky."

"Sparky?" Heather asked as she had not heard that name before.

"Oh, it's a nickname I have for Thor." Jerry explained. "Why are you up so early?"

"You know just thinking about stuff." Heather shrugged.

"I see." Jerry said as he noticed the troubled expression she was trying to hide even in the dimly lit room.

Heather noticed Jerry staring at her and asked "Do I have something on my face?"

"No, you just look troubled." The man commented. "You know, if you ever want to talk I'd be willing to listen."

"But I hardly know you." Heather commented with a raised brow.

"And I hardly know you." Jerry shrugged. "But sometimes it's easier to tell your worries to a stranger than to a friend." He added. "I don't know why, maybe it's because people think strangers would be less biased."

"I'll think about it." Heather said as her stomach chose that moment to let out a loud rumble.

"Oh my" Jerry chuckled as Heather blushed. "Breakfast won't be served for another few hours but I know a shortcut to the kitchen. Why don't you join me." Heather thought for a moment and then nodded. Who was she to turn down food.